I'm new to the world of Wii U ownership, but already I'm impressed with what Nintendo has accomplished with its latest home console. Is it perfect? No, but it's certainly a fun system to use, has a small library of must-play games, and features enough material to draw me back each day. I'm especially fond of the GamePad and its built-in touchscreen. While mirroring on-TV video may seem redundant and a waste of battery power when playing in front of the television, it's a godsend for off-TV play. Being able to play Super Mario 3D World or Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze while not anchored to the media room is a wonderful thing.

Off-TV play only works as long as the GamePad is within communication range of the console. Wander too far out of the Wii U zone and everything comes to a stop. The Wii U zone extends downstairs into my bedroom, but not quite enough. If I'm sitting up in bed, the GamePad works just fine. If I dare to lie down, however, I back out of the zone and lose the Wii U signal. Some games sense when this happens and automatically pause (NES Remix, for instance), but others do not and by the time I can sit up and get the Wii U and the GamePad talking again, poor Mario or Donkey Kong are dead and I'm back at the map screen.

While all technology has its limits, I wish there were such a thing as a Wii U signal booster or repeater that I could buy. Imagine a reasonably priced little box that you plug in, put at the edge of the Wii U signal zone near the spot you want to be able to play a game, and then forget about. While there's latency and lag issues to consider by adding an additional signal hope, I'd like to think it's possible for this device to exist. Nintendo would know best how to make such a gizmo work properly and with the expected level of quality, but I'd even settle for a third-party solution if it worked. In the meantime, I'll continue playing sitting upright. Is this the ultimate first world problem? Probably so, but it's still an opportunity for Nintendo to please customers and allow me to be entertained while resting comfortably.

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My Wii U Needs A Boost

I'm new to the world of Wii U ownership, but already I'm impressed with what Nintendo has accomplished with its latest home console. Is it perfect? No, but it's certainly a fun system to use, has a small library of must-play games, and features enough material to draw me back each day. I'm especially fond of the GamePad and its built-in touchscreen. While mirroring on-TV video may seem redundant and a waste of battery power when playing in front of the television, it's a godsend for off-TV play. Being able to play Super Mario 3D World or Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze while not anchored to the media room is a wonderful thing.

Off-TV play only works as long as the GamePad is within communication range of the console. Wander too far out of the Wii U zone and everything comes to a stop. The Wii U zone extends downstairs into my bedroom, but not quite enough. If I'm sitting up in bed, the GamePad works just fine. If I dare to lie down, however, I back out of the zone and lose the Wii U signal. Some games sense when this happens and automatically pause (NES Remix, for instance), but others do not and by the time I can sit up and get the Wii U and the GamePad talking again, poor Mario or Donkey Kong are dead and I'm back at the map screen.

While all technology has its limits, I wish there were such a thing as a Wii U signal booster or repeater that I could buy. Imagine a reasonably priced little box that you plug in, put at the edge of the Wii U signal zone near the spot you want to be able to play a game, and then forget about. While there's latency and lag issues to consider by adding an additional signal hope, I'd like to think it's possible for this device to exist. Nintendo would know best how to make such a gizmo work properly and with the expected level of quality, but I'd even settle for a third-party solution if it worked. In the meantime, I'll continue playing sitting upright. Is this the ultimate first world problem? Probably so, but it's still an opportunity for Nintendo to please customers and allow me to be entertained while resting comfortably.